Te Amo

11-Ghost of You

So I drown it out like I always do
Dancing through our house with the ghost of you

The impact of the punch sent Ashton back, making him land on his butt harshly. Man, he was weaker then he thought. He carefully touched his nose with his index and middle finger. Yep, just as he expected, blood.

"You. You fucking turned Michael gay." Luke spat. "You and your fucking group of gays just turning everyone gay with your so called charms. That's not how the world should be!"

Luke sent multiple kicks to the side of Ashton's chest.

"Please! Please stop!' Ashton begged.

"And you thought," kick "you could just," kick "turn my best friend," kick "gay?!" Kick.

"He was perfectly fine. Straight. With Crystal. They were fucking happy."

Luke stomped harshly on Ashton's stomach, making him cough and splutter.

"You and your fucking gayness."

Another kick to the ribs.

"Get up! Get up!" Luke ordered.

Ashton couldn't move. He felt like his ribs had detached from his skeleton and it was extremely painful to breath in.

Luke growled and picked Ashton up harshly.

"You're a fucking worthless ruiner."

"No! You have to let me go!" Calum yelled.

"You can't leave! You still have to undergo a lot of healing!"

Calum pulled desperately at the tube stuck in his chest.

"You don't understand! He's in danger!"

Calum yelled in pain as he quickly pulled the chest tube out, blood oozing from his chest almost immediately.

"Calum please listen to the doctors!" Joy pleaded.

Calum wasn't listening to anyone. Ashton had gone to see Luke and Luke was going to kill Ashton.

Luke punched Ashton in the gut harshly multiple times before throwing him back down on the grass again. He heard a pop. Ashton was sure he'd heard a pop. Suddenly, white hot pain exploded from his right shoulder. It was definitely broken or dislocated.

Luke walked a few metres away in search of something. Ashton wasn't quite sure what. Frankly, he didn't know if he cared. He was well dry out of tears. All he could do was cry out in pain every time he moved.

Luke had come back holding two sticks in either hand. In one hand, was a long thin stick and the other was much thicker, at least an inch wide and about the same length.

"Take off your shirt." Luke growled.

"No- I-"

"I said take it off!"

Ashton couldn't. He tried. He tried to obey but every move of his right arm sent excruciating waves of pain shooting up to his shoulder.

Luke grit his teeth and swiftly cut the shirt off using a Swiss army knife from his pocket, not caring that he cut Ashton in the process.

Luke stood back up and picked up the two sticks. He oriented between bashing Ashton with the thicker stick to whipping him with the thinner one.

"STOP! Please! Stop!"

Calum yelled in protest as more doctors flowed into his room, holding him down at every limb. He thrashed his torso around, just trying to loosen himself from the countless hands pinning him down.
"Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"Sedate him!"

"NOO! I HAVE TO GET TO HIM! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

A doctor tried placing a mask over Calum's face but Calum wouldn't keep his face still.

"Hold him steady!"

A doctor gripped tightly onto Calum's chin to keep it still.

"No! NO!"

The mask was placed onto Calum's face quickly.

"NO! PLEASE! NO!" Calum's voice was muffled and became distant with every passing word.

"Please- I gotta- Ashton- Ash.. Ash... A..."

Hit after hit, Ashton was falling deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. He was at the point where he felt the stick collide with his bare torso but didn't feel the pain. He didn't feel the blood oozing down his sides, collecting in piles either side of him.
Suddenly, the hitting stopped and Ashton was dragged out of his near unconscious state as he was again dragged to his feet by Luke. Ashton had no strength to stand but Luke kept a firm grip on him anyway. His eyes widened as he again heard the sound of the knife part of Luke's Swiss army knife become exposed.

"No.. Please don't.." Ashton murmured weakly.

"The world doesn't need more gay fags like you," Luke snarled, before deeply stabbing Ashton in the stomach with the blade of the knife.

Ashton's eyes widened in a shock, lips slightly parted as his body ran cold. Luke chuckled cruelly before letting Ashton go. Not having any weight to lean on, Ashton fell to the ground, on his side. Luke picked up his knife and knelt down in front of Ashton. Ashton was too close to passing out to even register the pain of being stabbed two more times, the knife being left there on the third.

"See you never Irwin." Luke grinned before stomping on Ashton's knee harshly, causing white hot pain to run up Ashton's leg.

Was he gonna die? Is this what dying felt like? Death was so painful. Death smelt like bloody grass and dog shit. Death sounded like crying.

"Ashton! Ashton, please- Can you hear me?"

The voice was so far away, yet so close. It was hard to understand. It was a male, that's all he knew.

"Ashton! Open your eyes! Please- for me babe!"

He wished he could. He wished he could open his eyes and tell whoever this is that it was okay.

"He's not waking up! Please! Please Ashy! Please wake up!"

Ashton felt like he was floating on a big fluffy cloud, or floating on water. He felt no pain.

"No, no, no! I can't find a pulse!"

"Move!"

"Set defibrillators to 4!"

"Clear!"

Suddenly, the cloud dropped slightly but didn't fall.

"No change."

"Clear!"

The cloud dropped slightly again but still continued to float.

"No change, doctor."

"Set defibrillators to 6!"

"Clear!"

Again, the cloud dropped but still continued to float.

"Time of death; 9:33 pm."

"No! Don't fucking give up!"

"CLEAR!"

The cloud beneath Ashton disappeared underneath him and he was suddenly back on the ground where he was lying before.

He rolled over and coughed and spluttered for a moment before lying back down normally and groaning in pain.

"He's coughing up blood. Get him on the ambulance stat!"

"Okay roll him over in three, two, one."

"Stabilize his head."

"Put him on oxygen, now!"

"Can you hear me?"

"Check his blood pressure."

"Ready? Lift. One, two, three!"

Ashton couldn't comprehend anything before everything completely faded into darkness.